Thursday, February 11, 2010

Monday Conor and I went grocery shopping. I went to get soy milk, among other things, and while checking out the offerings thought, "Hey, look, chocolate soy milk! Mmmmm..." I've been enjoying it since then.

Just now I was looking at the (now empty) box wondering why there were cows on a box of soy milk. Because, dummy, you bought ORGANIC regular milk thinking it was soy milk.

This probably explains the projectile vomit this morning that soaked both our outfits, the chair, computer, cords, external hard drive, side table, camera bag and carpet.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Conor has been in daycare for a month now and it's going really well. Every day we get a report like this one:

It's reassuring to see that he's eating and napping well each day. (This particular day he got to take a bath in the sink because of that "uncontained" BM at 12:40pm, which I was told he thoroughly enjoyed.) They do let us know if he's fussy, but most days they say he's been very happy.

Thursday's notes said, "Conor had a really great day, he must have been tired because he took a long morning nap! This morning we blew bubbles, Conor really enjoyed that! His eyes got so big and he would wave his arms and babble each time a bubble came near!"

They do lots of neat activities - playing in the sensory table with water or sand, going for walks (inside for now, around the building to see the other classrooms), painting, playing with innertubes and beach balls for "Beach Day", sledding, and playing with musical instruments. All of the toys are seperated into little baskets by type and he seems to like them a lot. We also get to see pictures of him periodically - here he is with Sandra working on his second painting:

They call him "Conor Man" and most days it's just he and the girls - there's only one other little boy now who only goes two days a week. Even at such a young age, he is starting to be very social with the other babies - often when I pick him up he's playing and chatting with another baby.

I do miss him very much during the day, but I know he is well taken care of and is having a fun, safe time at school. I'm very glad he's at a place where we are confident in his care and his well being and I really think GH lives up to it's reputation.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Bananas -Yuck, gross, I hate these. Fresh or jarred, both stink. F.Sweet Potatoes - Love these, mom's homemade are so yummy. A+.Pears - Okay, funny texture but taste decent. Like the jarred better than mom's. C+.Squash - Pretty good, gimme some. B+.Apples - Not too sure about these but they'll do. B-.Peas - This is what I'm talkin' about. Sorry Uncle Jason but they're good. A.Peaches - My favortite of the fruits. A.Carrots - These are yummy and messy but sometimes they make me cry. B.Prunes - Like these a lot and they make me go, bonus. B+.Green Beans - Not quite as good as peas but I think they're alright. B.Avocado - Acceptable. Those little pieces were fun to smash in my fingers. What's that? I was supposed to put it in my mouth myself? Isn't that what you're for? B+

Friday, February 5, 2010

There's nothing fun about pumping at work - it's boring, time consuming, and earns me the side eye from certain co-workers as I conspicuously leave three times a day. What's even worse than pumping at work? Having to hand express because you forgot your pump parts. Yesterday, for the second time since returning to work, I forgot parts for my pump. This time it was the tiny white membranes that cover the valves and allow the suction, without which the pump is totally useless.

I almost cried when I realized it. I had a couple options - don't pump, risking not having enough milk for Conor the next day, plus a lot of discomfort, possible embarrassing leakage, and a likely blow to my already fragile supply as my body sensed demand had decreased (my mammary glands are lazy like that.) Or, I could hand express like I did a couple weeks ago when I forgot the entire adapter kit. Beside being totally inefficient (I ended up with less than a third my normal output that day), carpal tunnel sets in after not too long. What to do?

(If you're thinking I should have just gone to the hospital pharmacy to buy parts, I'm way ahead of you on that one. Not only do they not sell them anywhere in the hospital, even if they did I would have no way to properly sterilize them before use. Going home to get the parts was not an option. I also briefly considered going to the Women's Hospital to beg for/steal some but decided against that.)

Behold the solution, made only with things found in my desk drawer:

I cut up a bandaid (sterile) and spare milk storage bag (sterile-ish) and used it to make a flap to function in the same way as the membrane. I was pretty pumped it worked (pun intended).